Carlisle Pennsylvania Forum

Carlisle · 2006-12-13 10:23:57

If you run a business that has a physical address in Carlisle, then your listing (with a website or not) should be in our database!

1. Go to http://www.carlisle-pa.com/add_site.shtml and click on the link for Carlisle.

2. Add your information.

3. Please use the thank you page to grab a little bit of code for your website and link back to us! Really - cross linking helps our site... AND YOURS!

4. Wait.. just a little. We review the listings before they show up.

Thanks for supporting Carlisle by running your business here!

TreefrogChele · 2006-12-13 11:20:53

Our business, Shutterbugs, is brand new. We opened in August 06. My biz partner and I left a big-box retailer to join the realm of the small biz organizations of downtown Carlisle. Although we knew the odds were against us, we have spunk and deteremination and aren't going to let anyone prove us wrong.
We've tried some "less expensive" radio advertising, on a station that said we would be meeting our target audience, but found that to be a waste of money. We use a local newspaper for small ads that run based on events, but most of the time we never recover our investment. Of course, we all know that word of mouth is the best advertising, because it's free, and the satisfied customers are more convincing than paid advertisers.
My question to put out here is this: How do other businesses do creative advertising that actually works? We can't afford to put tons of money out right now, but we need to be sure that when we do spend it, it comes back to us as well. Any ideas that has worked for you? Suggestions? Thanks, and best of sales for all of downtown Carlisle's retailers and businesses!

Carlisle · 2006-12-13 15:37:43

Although I haven't tried the small local radio stations (like WIOO or WHYL) I did try the larger stations. The hardest part was knowing if you actually made a new customer or not!

Tracking can definintely be an issue.

It can be hard to remember to ALWAYS ask where the customer heard about you and when... then to record that data to analyze.

So, we switched to all print ads requiring coupons. This was simple for us to track - they had to be turned in - so we didn't have to rely on our cashier to ask or write down the response. They simply added the coupon to the drawer - then a manager would tally the coupons and add them to a spreadsheet.

We were quickly able to find out which advertising worked and which didn't.

Of course - you need to keep in mind the audience of the print media too... Someone may see your ad and come anyway - but not care too much about clipping the coupon.

Anyway - we found that the guide - for its price, turned quite a bit of traffic and had a large ROI. The Sentinel was ok - but not spectacular. Valpak and the Clipper turned in better than expected results, but the cost of admission was higher.

Carlisle Pennsylvania Forum

#1 2006-12-13 10:23:57

Is your Business Listed?

#2 2006-12-13 11:20:53

Re: Is your Business Listed?

#3 2006-12-13 15:37:43

Re: Is your Business Listed?

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